Less than a week after the implementation of the Anti-Distracted Driving Act, the DOTr has announced that enforcement and implementation will be temporarily suspended. According to the government agency, this announcement is effective immediately.

The official statement from the DOTr says:

To respond to the call of both Houses of Congress to defer the implementation of ADDA, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG) take heed to the Congress, being the authors of the law, to defer the enforcement of Republic Act 10913 or the Anti-Distracted Driving Act (ADDA).

Relative thereto, the DOTr shall immediately revive its Technical Working Group to conduct a review of the IRR in coordination with concerned stakeholders.

An Information and Education Campaign (IEC) shall commence as soon as the new IRR is crafted.

In the meantime, we invite the public to continue the constructive discussion on this new law so as to contribute on how we could all better promote road safety, discipline, and responsible driving.

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Recently, the Act came under fire from both politicians, as well as the motoring public. Senator Ejercito said that the DOTr officials "misunderstood the essence of the Anti-Distracted Driving Law". According to the Senator, RA10913 caused great confusion among motorists, particularly with the rules of 'line of sight' and the use of navigation aids.

Even with the Act currently suspended, we would like to remind our readers to avoid the use of their mobile devices while driving.